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Saturday, May 6, 2017

Action Item: If Colorado Can Figure it Out, Why Can't Virginia?

For at
least 5 years I’ve been asking every Virginia Delegate, Senator, Secretary of
Public Safety and Governor to patron a Bill to decriminalize consensual Teen
Sexting in Virginia. And while many of them agree in private on my
proposal no one has yet to sponsor such a Bill even though
the number of juveniles being arrested in Virginia for Child Pornography rises every
year with the 13-14 year olds being the highest arrest group.

Well
Colorado (see below article) is about to
pass a law to make consensual Teen Sexting a petty offense where applicable,
they are adding a 4-year age gap as I’ve been proposing and if the image is
posted/emailed it can be a misdemeanor offense. This prevents teenagers who did
not use any force, threats, intimidation, secret filming or extortion from
facing a felony conviction that could include a prison sentence and lifetime registration
as a public Violent Sex Offender.

I don’t
expect the first proposal to be the magic-bullet, it may take a few years like
in Colorado but we should at leastbe
making a concerted effort to make sure our Child Pornography statutes aren’t
being used against juveniles with a lifetime stigma as a public Violent Sex
Offender when that is not how they were ever intended to be used.

Please
contact your one Virginia Delegate and one SenatorTHIS month and ask them to sponsor a Bill in
2018 to start the ball rolling on this very important reform initiative for Virginia.

If you
aren’t sure of what to ask them for go to the past posting on this Legislative Goal #10goo.gl/oDhGuC

A compromise
teen sexting bill is heading to the desk of Colorado’s governor after passing both chambers
of the state’s legislature and more than two years of fierce debate about how
to address the complicated issue that’s becoming more prevalent.

“It’s all
equal parts relief and happiness,” said Rep. Yuelin Willett, R-Grand Junction,
who has been one of the champions of the legislation. “I think it’s actually a
better bill than when it started. I think it actually ended up around the right
place after about 30 stakeholders fought over it for two years.”

The
legislation, expected to be signed into law by Gov. John
Hickenlooper, would make consensual exchanges of nude images by children a
civil infraction and gives prosecutors a range of options — from a petty
offense to a felony — to use against teens who possess or distribute sexts
against a victim’s will.

The
legislation proposal would make any juvenile who is at least 14 and has a nude
image of another teen without their permission, and who is within four years of
the victim’s age, commit a petty offense. Anyone — who is at least 14 years old
and within four years of the victim’s age — who posts a nude image of a juvenile
online or in another form would commit a Class 2 misdemeanor.

Under the
bill, offenders whose actions fall under the petty offense or civil infraction
could never be charged with a Class 3 felony child pornography offense — the
only charge currently applicable to teen sexting, which can land a child on a
sex offender registry. The felony accusation, however, can still be leveled
against juvenile offenders if a district attorney feels it is appropriate in
egregious cases.

Last month,
lawmakers struggled to reach a deal on the legislation as the session
neared its end.

The
debate split prosecutors and advocacy groups this session into
feuding factions with each side backing a bill — one that would allow
kids to take and share nude photos of themselves with consent and another
that would make such behavior illegal, but gives district attorneys an array of
mostly minor charges to file.

District
attorneys also wanted to ensure the felony charge was still an option while
victims’ advocates sought to have it barred from use against teen sexters.

A long
list of amendments to House Bill 1302, negotiated by Rep. Pete Lee, D-Colorado
Springs, and Willett and a list of stakeholders, made the legislation’s passage
possible.

Legislators
have been trying for several years to pass some kind of bill to address teen
sexting with a misdemeanor or lower charge option.

The
debate heated up in late 2015 after about 100 students at Cañon City high
school were
found to be trading hundreds of nude images with each other, prompting
international headlines and fears a whole community’s children could be labeled
sex offenders. Prosecutors eventually decided not to charge any of the teens
involved, with then-11th Judicial District Attorney Thomas
LeDoux saying: “The investigation suggests these were kids doing stupid kid
things.”

The
compromise bill encourages district attorneys to create diversion programs for
first time offenders to help juveniles avoid court judgments. It also mandates
that court records for offenders must be expunged within 42 days
completing a sentence or diversion program.

The
legislation also says there will be a post-enactment review after two years to
determine its efficacy.

Disclaimer:

This blog is for informational purposes only; I strive to provide accurate and current information.

I do not claim to be a legal resource and suggest you always consult with a licensed Attorney and the Virginia State Police’s Sex Offender Hotline (804) 674-2825 where needed.

I advocate for data-driven, proven reform as opposed to the current knee-jerk, myth-driven, one-size-fits-all method in Virginia. I do not support abolishment of the registry and that is why I do not link to other groups or sites with an abolishment goal or ones with radical tactics.

This blog is not affiliated with any other group and does not solicit donations because it is not an incorporated non-profit.